S.I. No. 259/2001 - Employment Regulation Order (Handkerchief and Household Piece Goods Joint Labour Committee), 2001

WHEREAS the Labour Court (hereinafter called “the Court”), pursuant to the provisions of Section 48 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990 (hereinafter called “the Act”), made an Employment Regulation Order dated 7^th September, 2000 ( S.I. No. 277 of 2000 ) (hereinafter called “the said Order”) fixing the statutory minimum rates of remuneration and regulating the statutory conditions of employment of workers in relation to whom the Handkerchief and Household Piece Goods Joint Labour Committee (hereinafter called “the Committee”) operates;

AND WHEREAS the Committee has submitted to the Court a proposal for revoking the said Order;

AND WHEREAS the Committee has also submitted to the Court the proposals set out in the Schedule hereto for fixing the statutory minimum rates of remuneration and regulating the statutory conditions of employment of workers in relation to whom the Committee operates;

AND WHEREAS the provisions of Section 48 of the Act have been complied with;

NOW, THEREFORE, the Court, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Section 43 (4) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1946 and Section 48 (4) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990 , hereby Orders as follows:-

(1)     This Order may be cited as the Employment Regulation Order (Handkerchief and Household Piece Goods Joint Labour Committee), 2001.

(2)     Effect is hereby given to the proposals set out in the Schedule hereto.

(3)     The provisions set out in the Schedule hereto shall have effect as from 26^th June, 2001 and as from that date the said Order shall be revoked.

SCHEDULE

PART I

GENERAL MINIMUM TIME-RATES AND PIECE-WORK BASIS TIME-RATE

All workers (including Learners) while employed on Piece-Work shall be paid Piece-Rates each of which would yield, in the circumstances of the case, to an ordinary worker, not less than the above Piece-Work Basis Time-Rate. In determining whether any Piece-Rate is sufficient to satisfy this condition, regard must be had only to the earnings of ordinary workers, that is to say, workers of ordinary skill and experience in the class of work in question, and not to the earnings of learners or infirm workers, or workers of greater or less than ordinary skill and experience.

Notes

This ERO takes account of the National Minimum Wage Act, 2000 and the reckonable components listed in Part 1 of the Schedule thereto, as well as the Second Phase of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (i.e. an increase of 5.5% with a minimum of £11 per week) and the additional 2% in accordance with the agreement negotiated at national level in December, 2000. Employers may, in certain circumstances, seek concessions in order to meet the costs of the additional increases.

The Euro (€) comes into effect from 1.1.2002.

PART II

NORMAL WORKING HOURS

The normal number of hours to be worked by workers in relation to whom the Committee operates shall be 39 hours per week. In relation to workers under the age of 18, the provisions of the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, 1996 shall apply.

Overtime

The minimum rate for overtime per hour which shall be payable in respect of hours worked in excess of the normal number of hours up to 12 noon on Saturday shall be gross earnings per hour plus 50% (this shall include overtime worked Monday to Friday). The minimum rate for overtime per hour which shall be paid for hours worked after 12 noon on Saturday up to normal starting time on Monday shall be gross hourly earnings plus 100%.

PART III

CONDITIONS GOVERNING LEARNERSHIP

SECTION I - A Learner is a worker who:

(a)          Is employed during the whole or a substantial part of the hours of work in learning any branch or process of the trade by an employer who provides the learner with reasonable facilities for learning such branch or processes.

(b)          Has received a certificate to the effect that he/she is a member of the Learner Class in the Trade or has made an application for such certificate which has been duly acknowledged and is still under consideration.

PROVIDED THAT -

(i)      An employer may employ a learner on first employment in the Trade, as defined in this Schedule, without a certificate for a probationary period not exceeding four weeks but in the event of such learner being continued thereafter in the employment, the probationary period shall be included in the period of learnership.

(ii)      A learner shall cease to be a Learner and shall become entitled to the minimum rate payable to workers other than Learners on the completion of two years' employment in the Trade.

(This provision does not interfere with the right of a Learner who is employed on Piece-Work to be paid the appropriate Piece-Rate in accordance with the provisions of Part I, Section III of this Schedule).

(iii)    Any worker employed as a Learner who had previously been employed in any Branch of the Trade, as defined in this Schedule, shall count the whole period of such previous employment in calculating the period of learnership completed by him/her and for the purpose of claiming the minimum time-rate at which he/she is entitled to be paid.

(iv)    An application for a Learner's Certificate must be made to the Joint Labour Committee in respect of every Worker engaged in learning the Trade, whom it is desired to employ at the minimum rates fixed for learners. Unless a Learner's Certificate has been obtained, or an application therefor has been made which has been acknowledged and is still under consideration, and the other conditions of Learnership laid down in this Schedule are complied with, the minimum rate payable shall be that fixed for workers other than Learners.

(v)      Notwithstanding compliance with the conditions contained in this Part of the Schedule, a worker shall not be deemed to be a Learner if he/she works in a room used for dwelling purposes, and is not in the employment of a parent or guardian.

SECTION II-       The issue of a Certificate to Learners shall be governed by the following conditions relative to the provision of reasonable facilities for learning the Trade:-

(1)             The proportion of Learners in the Trade to other workers employed therein, shall not, as a general rule, exceed two Learners to five other workers in the case of any particular employer, and the issue of Learners' Certificates shall be restricted accordingly.

(2)             Where, however, the Joint Labour Committee is satisfied in any particular case that special facts or circumstances so require, the Committee may authorise the issue of Learners' Certificates in excess of the proportion above specified.

SECTION III-     The Joint Labour Committee may, if it thinks fit, refer to a Sub-Committee appointed under the provisions of Paragraph 8 of the Fifth Schedule to the Industrial Relations Act, 1990 , applications made to it for the issue of Learners' Certificates in excess of the proportion normally permitted and may, also, if it thinks fit, delegate to the Sub-Committee so appointed any or all of its powers and duties in connection therewith and the expression “Committee” used in Section I and II above shall include a reference to the Sub-Committee so appointed.

PART IV

WORKERS IN RELATION TO WHOM THE COMMITTEE OPERATES

The above minimum rates of remuneration and conditions of employment shall apply subject to the provisions of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1946 - 1990, and of this Order, to all workers in respect of any time during which they are employed in any Branch of the Trade specified in the Trade Board (Handkerchief and Household Piece Goods) Order, 1935 that is to say:-

The making of such articles as are specified in (a) and (b) below from linen, cotton, silk or other materials excluding paper, rubberised material and American oilcloth viz.:-

(a)      Handkerchiefs (including mufflers and scarves).

(b)      Bed-linen, bed-spreads, towels, dusters, tablenapery, tea-cloths, table-centres, sideboard covers, cushion covers or similar household articles; including all or any of the following operations:-

(i)      Hooking, cutting or tearing the materials;

(ii)      Vice-folding;

(iii)     Machine hemming, hem-stitching, spoking, overlocking, tambouring, button-holing, and other plain or fancy machine stitching;

(iv)     All processes of embroidery or decorative needlework done by machine, whether before or after the making of the articles of the description specified above;

(v)      The following processes if done by machine:- thread-drawing, thread clipping, top-sewing, scalloping, nickelling and paring;

(vi)     All processes of laundering, smoothing, folding, ornamenting, boxing, finishing, warehousing, packing and other similar operations incidental to, or appertaining to, the making of the articles of the description specified above.

PART V

* PENSIONS AND MORTALITY SCHEME FOR WORKERS (EXCLUDING OUT-WORKERS)

Each employer shall provide a pension scheme containing the following terms and conditions which shall apply to workers (excluding out-workers) employed by him in relation to whom the Committee operates:

1.       The pension scheme shall be non-contributory for workers.

2.        The commencement date means the date from which the Order became effective.

3.       The entry date means the commencement date and each subsequent anniversary thereof.

4.       Normal pension age shall be on the 65th birthday of the worker.

5.       Every full-time, permanent worker who at the commencement date is aged not less than 30 years but less than 55 years; has completed at least five years' continuous employment with the employer by whom he/she is then employed or his predecessor in title and who entered the employment of that employer or his predecessor in title on, or before, his/her 45th birthday shall become, and remain, a member of the pension scheme provided by his/her employer.

6.       Every full-time permanent worker, other than those described at 5 above, who at an entry date other than the commencement date:-

(a)      is aged not less than 30 years but less than 45 years and

(b)      has completed at least five years' continuous employment with the employer by whom he/she is then employed or his predecessor in title shall become and remain a member of the pension scheme provided by his/her employer.

7.       A member of the pension scheme who has completed at least 30 years' continuous employment immediately prior to normal pension age with the employer by whom he/she is then employed or his predecessor in title will receive on retirement at normal pension age a pension of £4.00 (€5.08) per week. The pension will be payable for five years certain from date of retirement and thereafter for life.

8.       A member of the pension scheme who has completed less than thirty years' continuous employment with the employer by whom he/she is then employed or his predecessor in title immediately prior to the normal pension age will receive on retirement at normal pension age a weekly pension calculated as follows:-

13p (€0.17) multiplied by his/her number of years' continuous employment.

9.       In the event of death in employment before normal pension age of a member of the pension scheme a lump sum of £1,200 (€1523.69) shall be paid into his/her Estate.

10.     A worker who is aged over 25 years and who has completed at least three years' continuous employment with his/her employer or his predecessor in title and who would otherwise satisfy the eligibility conditions in paragraphs 5 and 6 shall from the entry date following the completion of such conditions become, and remain, a member of the pension scheme provided by his/her employer for the purpose of obtaining the death benefit referred to in paragraph 9.

11.     With the consent of his/her employer a member of the pension scheme may retire during the 10 years immediately preceding his/her normal pension age or at any time on the grounds of ill health. In either event he/she will be entitled to receive as from date of retirement a weekly pension calculated as follows:-

13p (€0.17) multiplied by his/her number of years' continuous service with the employer.

12.     Where a worker ceased or ceases employment with his/her employer and was, or is, subsequently re-employed the employment of such worker will count only from the date of subsequent re-employment.

13.     A worker who voluntarily leaves the employment before normal pension age, except as provided in paragraph 11 above, or who is dismissed for misconduct shall not be entitled to any benefit under the pension scheme.

PART VI

SERVICE PAY

Employees with 5 years' continuous service and over -£1.00 (€ 1.27) per week

Employees with 10 years' continuous service and over -£2.00 (€ 2.54) per week

Employees with 15 years' continuous service and over -£3.00 (€ 3.81) per week

Employees with 20 years' continuous service and over -£4.00 (€ 5.08) per week

PART VII

ANNUAL HOLIDAYS

All employees are entitled to paid annual leave in accordance with the provisions of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 .

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.

This Instrument fixes with effect from 26^th June, 2001 statutory minimum rates of remuneration and regulates statutory conditions of employment for workers employed in the Handkerchief and Household Piece Goods Trade. It is made by the Labour Court on the recommendation of the Handkerchief and Household Piece Goods Joint Labour Committee.

NOTE:      Enquiries should be directed to The Secretary, Joint Labour Committees, The Labour Court, Tom Johnson House, Haddington Road, Dublin 4 (Telephone 01-6136666, Extension Nos. 6639,6640, 6641 and 6642. “Lo-Call” number (if calling from outside (01) area) 1890 220 228).

* Documentary evidence of the existence of the scheme (such as, for example, an insurance policy) should be available for inspection.